Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20090913.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Exodus: God's Forming The Nation Israel For His Abrahamic Covenant
Part II: God's Training Israel To Heed Him, Exodus 15:22-40:38
A. God's Training To Heed Him For Health Care Needs
(Exodus 15:22-27)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    The people of the United States are stirred up about health care:

    In the September 4, 2009 issue of USA TODAY, p. 4A, a story by John Fritze, "Lawmakers take hard line on health care" appeared telling how "(a)ngry voters have captured all the attention at town hall meetings across the country this summer . . ."

    As a result, "(m)any Democrats" of the ruling party have "told voters they would vote against a bill that adds to the deficit." (Ibid.) However, 60 leftist House Democrats have warned the President that House passage of the bill requires it to include a government plan, Ibid.

    Yet, public fear of a government plan refused to be pacified! Republican House Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia says, "American citizens . . . don't want government rationing." (Ibid.) Fear of limited treatment for the elderly and the handicapped due to spiraling costs and fund shortfalls via an inefficiently run government program, which fear leftists contest is false, fuels Representative Eric Cantor's statement.

    So deeply felt are the nation's concerns even in Congress, when President Obama addressed the joint houses of Congress on September 9th and had just claimed his health plan would not cover illegal aliens, Republican Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina shouted back, "You lie!" ("Illegal Immigrants Difficult To Remove From ObamaCare," by Sean Higgins, Inv. Bus. Daily, 9/11/09, p. A1)

    Other legislators rebuked Mr. Wilson for his outburst, and he apologized, but debate on the subject continues: the Phoenix Business Journal reported after the President's speech that "(c)onservatives are worried that . . . the Obama health push is being done in conjunction with immigration reforms that would offer amnesty (i.e., legal status) to 11 to 12 million illegal immigrants who could then qualify for possible health coverage under reforms." (www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/09/07daily65.html)

    Their concern is justified, for "(t)he Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan agency that analyzes legislation for lawmakers," claims "the [House] bill's individual mandate to get health coverage extends to 'unauthorized aliens' who have a 'substantial presence' in the U. S. That means they have lived here for at least 31 days in the current year and 183 days in the past two years." (Ibid., I. B. D.)

    Need: "With the great, unsettling unrest in our country over health care, HOW am I to find PEACE about it in my OWN experience?!"

  1. After Israel had left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, she entered a wilderness in great need of "national health care" provisions!
    1. Israel was a nation of two million people when she left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, Bible Knowledge Commentary, O. T., p. 129.
    2. At the time, she was humanly at risk for a huge national health crisis:
      1. Exodus 15:22 reveals that when Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they had gone three days into the wilderness of Shur, Israel's two million people had run out of water!
      2. Exodus 15:23-25a reveals that the stress this produced would have only taxed the immune system of all of Israel's two million people:
        1. Exodus 15:24 notes Israel complained to its leader, Moses about the crisis, showing their stress in asking what they could drink!
        2. This intense criticism by so many people caused even Moses himself to "cry out for help" (sa'ar) to God, Exodus 15:25a; B. D. B., A Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament, p. 858!
      3. On top of all this, there was no other human help available: there were no charitable nations to airlift aid to Israel, no hospitals, no doctors, no nurses, no nurses aids, no health insurance companies or any government-run agencies or programs!
  2. However, God had ARRANGED for this CRISIS to OCCUR to TEACH Israel to HEED Him for her HEALTH NEEDS:
    1. The last phrase in Exodus 15:25 reveals God tested Israel in this water crisis, and knowledge of the geographical context confirms as much: just seven miles beyond Marah was Elim where God would lead Israel to an abundant oasis, Ex. 15:27, Ibid., Bib. Kno. Com., O. T., p. 134.
    2. Thus, God had arranged for Israel to reach Marah after a three day journey without finding water, and that knowing full well of her water needs as He was about ready to lead her to an ample nearby oasis to meet that need, but He first wanted her to learn a lesson at Marah!
    3. Now, His lesson at Marah related to Israel's national health care:
      1. When Moses cried out to God for help with the water, He showed Moses either a tree or a piece of wood ['ays] to throw into the water to make it drinkable, Ex. 15:25; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 781-782.
      2. With this solution came God's lesson on Israel's health care: were the people diligently to heed and obey His Word, God would put none of the diseases on her that He had used to plague Egypt, Ex. 15:26a,b. God thus revealed He was Israel's "Healer," enacting Israel's health care program, Exodus 15:26c ESV!
  3. To APPLY this truth for TODAY, we note how God's program for ISRAEL DIFFERS from His plan for the CHURCH as follows:
    1. Deuteronomy 28:1-68 claims the people of Israel would enjoy perfect health were they to obey the Mosaic Law while suffering all sorts of physical problems were they to disobey th e Law!
    2. However, we note from Scripture that in the dispensation of the Church, God's program is different for believers (as follows):
      1. Illness can plague upright Christians (Phil. 2:25-30) and God does not always want to heal them, 2 Tim. 4:20b versus Acts 20:9-12.
      2. On the other hand, God GENERALLY wants Christians to have good health (3 John 2), and He GENERALLY uses illness and premature death to discipline them for sin, 1 Corinthians 11:29-30.
      3. God also wants Christians to use sensible human medical treatment for health needs, 1 Tim. 5:23; Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 745.
      4. Ephesians 2:10 and 2 Timothy 1:9 ESV teach God ordained in eternity past the works He wants believers to achieve; thus, if they heed Him, God will sustain their health so they can fulfill them.
  4. We summarize God's "health care plan for Christians": if we heed His Word, God meets all our health needs as believers directly and/or by sensible human medical treatment so we can do His will!
Application: For personal peace over the unsettling national health care issue, may we enter God's health care program, (1) trusting in Christ as Savior to become part of God's family and so entering His "much-more" care, John 1:11-12; Romans 8:32. (2) Then, may we (a) rely on the Holy Spirit for the will and power (Gal. 5:16-23) to (b) obey God's Word (Ex. 15:26), and (c) see Him directly and/or by human medical provision(s) supply all of the health we need to fulfill His calling that He ordained for us in eternity past! (d) Of necessity, this means we believers should address our health needs both by prayer for divine direct intervention while ALSO giving heed to good practical, sensible human medical treatment!

Lesson: (1) God kept Israel healthy when she obeyed His Word. (2) In the CHURCH era, all the health we NEED to DO GOD'S WILL will be MET IF we HEED SCRIPTURE, and it will come by God's DIRECT intervention AND/OR by SENSIBLE human MEDICAL TREATMENT.

We may then ask, "With all of the unsettling national debate on the issue, how may I gain peace about my health care?"


Conclusion:

 Last week, our Church received a publication from the Africa Inland Mission under which our missionaries, Ken and Deb Hall serve, and it was titled "Heartbeat Africa" (Issue Two 2009). The publication contained two testimonies that powerfully illustrate this message:

(1) Missionary Sue Newton submitted the article, "Her Name is Blessing," pp. 25-27 telling of the Maasai tribal woman Karsis whose seriously ill infant was being treated at Kijabe Hospital in Kenya.

Karsis had been reluctant to bring her baby to the hospital, telling Sue's husband, Dr. Mark Newton, "Daktari, I have no money." Only when he had offered to make arrangements for her to make payments had Karsis agreed to bring her child to the hospital.

At the hospital, Karsis at one point had smiled and told Sue, "If my children don't have food one day, they always have it the next. I don't know why God has been so good to me. They never miss food the next day. God is good." (Ibid., p. 25)

(2) Nikole MacGregor who also was a missionary at Kijabe Hospital wrote the article, "Tealess Tea", pp. 20-23, about the African woman Mercy Ng'ang'a who works there.

Mercy had lost her husband to leukemia ten years before, being left to raise her five children on her own. This last year with the world recession had made it the toughest year she could ever recall facing.

Yet, always being the one to treat them both as they sit and talk with one another, providing the cups of chai (tea with lots of milk and sugar in it) and scones in their fellowship time, Mercy had once told Nikole: "We need to trust in God and God only. Not in our government, not in the white people, not in our pensions or health insurances, but God and God alone. He has promised He will give us our daily bread. He has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He knows our needs and will help us in times of trouble. But most of all, He wants us to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him, to trust in Him, to praise Him. And through all these struggles, I come closer to my King." (Ibid., p. 23)

May we heed God's Word, using what health we have from Him to invest it in works that He has ordained for us. Then, as believers like Mercy and Karsis in Kenya know all too well, all the health we need to fulfill God's calling will be provided by His sovereign oversight and faithful provision!